Post job

Help desk assistant vs desk support technician

The differences between help desk assistants and desk support technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a help desk assistant and a desk support technician. Additionally, a desk support technician has an average salary of $40,715, which is higher than the $28,262 average annual salary of a help desk assistant.

The top three skills for a help desk assistant include computer lab, customer service and desk support. The most important skills for a desk support technician are customer service, technical support, and troubleshoot.

Help desk assistant vs desk support technician overview

Help Desk AssistantDesk Support Technician
Yearly salary$28,262$40,715
Hourly rate$13.59$19.57
Growth rate10%10%
Number of jobs83,479130,485
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 51%Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age4242
Years of experience22

Help desk assistant vs desk support technician salary

Help desk assistants and desk support technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

Help Desk AssistantDesk Support Technician
Average salary$28,262$40,715
Salary rangeBetween $14,000 And $56,000Between $26,000 And $62,000
Highest paying CityHartford, CTSouth San Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateConnecticutCalifornia
Best paying companyInformation Technology and Innovation FoundationBNY Mellon
Best paying industryGovernmentTechnology

Differences between help desk assistant and desk support technician education

There are a few differences between a help desk assistant and a desk support technician in terms of educational background:

Help Desk AssistantDesk Support Technician
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 51%Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Help desk assistant vs desk support technician demographics

Here are the differences between help desk assistants' and desk support technicians' demographics:

Help Desk AssistantDesk Support Technician
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 53.4% Female, 46.6%Male, 82.6% Female, 17.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.8% Asian, 11.5% White, 54.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 11.7% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between help desk assistant and desk support technician duties and responsibilities

Help desk assistant example responsibilities.

  • Manage the PC refresh program transferring all user data remotely and installing require software applications.
  • Produce legal proposals, memorandum agreements and PowerPoint presentations.
  • Create PowerPoint presentations used for business development.manage daily office operations and maintenance of equipment.
  • Analyze networking problems concerning LAN architecture and constructed/ran cable to support lab expansion projects.
  • Evaluate network utilization and redesign the county wide-area network by replacing existing network infrastructure with network switches and installing network cabling.
  • Build VPN packages and ship as requested.
  • Show more

Desk support technician example responsibilities.

  • Manage backups, replications and disaster recovery plans of company mission critical servers and database files to ensure redundancy.
  • Use multiple monitor setup display and remote desktop applications via VPN to access associate computers.
  • Utilize desktop deployment tools in order to deploy and maintain inventory for PCs, monitors, and printers.
  • Assist with network connectivity with PCs, laptops, and mobile phones including TCP/IP settings and internet connections.
  • Provide administrative support and troubleshooting for VPN users.
  • Maintain company networks security systems and infrastructure hardware including firewalls and switches and install software security and firmware patches or upgrades.
  • Show more

Help desk assistant vs desk support technician skills

Common help desk assistant skills
  • Computer Lab, 10%
  • Customer Service, 10%
  • Desk Support, 8%
  • Help Desk, 5%
  • Help-Desk Support, 4%
  • Computer Software, 4%
Common desk support technician skills
  • Customer Service, 11%
  • Technical Support, 8%
  • Troubleshoot, 7%
  • Phone Calls, 5%
  • Desk Side Support, 5%
  • Remote Troubleshooting, 4%

Browse computer and mathematical jobs